S
skiutah
Guest
I am trying to decide whether to proceed with trial (November 27, 28, 29, 30) or accept an offer of judgment. My case will be heard in the Utah Federal court and my attorney wants me to accept the offer of judgment: doesn't want me to go through a contentious trial given the pretrial decision that I cannot obtain damages for negligent infliction of emotional distress. I was not in the zone of danger?!
My story (Reader's Digest version): Five years ago, my husband was killed in a home construction accident and it rocked my world. Both of us were working on a mega-construction project ($2.2 billion) at the time of my husband's death. I was employed by the project's Project Manager and my husband was employed by one of the project's many subcontractors. Assistance to finish my home was offered by numerous contractors onsite as a gesture of good will. I accepted the assistance. Four months after my husband's death and one month after moving into our home, the house burned to the ground.
One of the contractor's doing some finish concrete negligently used a propane blow torch to heat the house foundation and apply finish plaster. It was a brutally cold winter day with high winds. The flame went untended and conducted enough heat to ignite a fire inside the wall (in two places). The fire department was not called by the workers because they panicked. Instead, they came to my neighbors for a flashlight so they could see where the smoke was coming from. They placed a garden hose through a hole they made in the wall and attempted to put out the fire. My neighbor called the fire department. When the firemen arrived they were told by the worker's that the fire was on the South side of the house when the fire was on the North side of the house. By the time the firemen found the heart of the fire it was too late and the loss was complete. The home and everything I owned was entirely destroyed.
The fire, so soon after my husband's death, was egregious. The actions of the contractor were grossly negligent the day of the fire and have been "evil" since the fire. For example, the contractor's risk management personnel wrote in his statement that "chalkmarks from my deceased husband's body were still visible on the floor." This statement is entirely false and added severe distress to my suicidal state of mind. There were never "chalkmarks" where my husband died. Further, my husband died upstairs which was--GONE--everything had burned completely through to the basement. All that was left of everything that made us, us, was a mountain of black ash and debris. Furthermore, the contractor attempted to defend by calling the fire "an act of God" which failed and then asserted The Good Samaritan defense which has now failed. In trying to strike their good samaritan defense it was discovered that this contractor had hidden the cost of its (donated) time and materials in their pay requests which were ultimately paid for by the owner without anyone knowing at the time. In addition to "taking" reimbursement for their time and materials without permission, they received the 15% markup as provided in their Time & Materials contract with the owner of the project. I am told that none of these things make any difference to my case.
Needless to say, there were insurance companies involved (mine and theirs) which is another lawsuit altogether. Allstate (my carrier) subrogated with St. Paul Fire and Marine (their carrier) failing to recover any portion of my uninsured losses and subrogating before my claim has been completed. Unbeknownst to me, I apparently waived my right to recover my uninsured losses with an Allstate subrogation form. Due to Allstate's misconduct and failure to meet the terms of my policy, I paid $190,000 out of my husband's life insurance (all of it) to rebuild. I sued Allstate for breach of contract and bad faith (lost all my personal assets, took 2 years to rebuild, my home remains unfinished to this day, Allstate's Ace Contractor walked away with half of the insurance proceeds, leaving me with $70,000 in subcontractor liens, etc.) Three months ago, via mediation, I received a large settlement from Allstate for my bad faith suit against them.
Now, the contractor (who burned down the house) wants my settlement with Allstate to be provided to the jury. They are claiming that I am attempting to double recover. The company that burned my house down is HUGE and clearly would rather have their insurance company fight me rather than settle. Their contracts range from $270,000,000 for a big job, to $5,000,000 for a baby job. One piece of their heavy machinery costs more than my claim against them and they have fleets of equipment. I have asked to be compensated for the inconvenience of losing my home (and dream my husband and I had built together) as well as my family heirlooms, keepsakes, and miscellaneous uninsured personal property. Their offer is $30,000 which my attorney thinks I should accept because in reality, even if I win, I could lose. Any verdict will be appealed as I'm really fighting their insurance company and could go on for years. My attorney feels strongly, that given the harm I suffer as result of these tragedies, I should end it and try to heal. He feels that the death of my husband, the ensuing fire four months later and all the litigation has literally shortened my life. He's correct.
The details of my case are vast and complex. My greatest fear is that a jury would not have the ability to cull through the volumes of facts, not to mention the defense attorneys bull**** and render a reasonable verdict. I don't want a big fat jury verdict because the bigger it is, the more sure they will appeal. I just NEED something fair--in order to--get on with my life. The world has become a frightening and ugly place to me. Perhaps it is best to accept the offer of judgment?
Any ideas?
My story (Reader's Digest version): Five years ago, my husband was killed in a home construction accident and it rocked my world. Both of us were working on a mega-construction project ($2.2 billion) at the time of my husband's death. I was employed by the project's Project Manager and my husband was employed by one of the project's many subcontractors. Assistance to finish my home was offered by numerous contractors onsite as a gesture of good will. I accepted the assistance. Four months after my husband's death and one month after moving into our home, the house burned to the ground.
One of the contractor's doing some finish concrete negligently used a propane blow torch to heat the house foundation and apply finish plaster. It was a brutally cold winter day with high winds. The flame went untended and conducted enough heat to ignite a fire inside the wall (in two places). The fire department was not called by the workers because they panicked. Instead, they came to my neighbors for a flashlight so they could see where the smoke was coming from. They placed a garden hose through a hole they made in the wall and attempted to put out the fire. My neighbor called the fire department. When the firemen arrived they were told by the worker's that the fire was on the South side of the house when the fire was on the North side of the house. By the time the firemen found the heart of the fire it was too late and the loss was complete. The home and everything I owned was entirely destroyed.
The fire, so soon after my husband's death, was egregious. The actions of the contractor were grossly negligent the day of the fire and have been "evil" since the fire. For example, the contractor's risk management personnel wrote in his statement that "chalkmarks from my deceased husband's body were still visible on the floor." This statement is entirely false and added severe distress to my suicidal state of mind. There were never "chalkmarks" where my husband died. Further, my husband died upstairs which was--GONE--everything had burned completely through to the basement. All that was left of everything that made us, us, was a mountain of black ash and debris. Furthermore, the contractor attempted to defend by calling the fire "an act of God" which failed and then asserted The Good Samaritan defense which has now failed. In trying to strike their good samaritan defense it was discovered that this contractor had hidden the cost of its (donated) time and materials in their pay requests which were ultimately paid for by the owner without anyone knowing at the time. In addition to "taking" reimbursement for their time and materials without permission, they received the 15% markup as provided in their Time & Materials contract with the owner of the project. I am told that none of these things make any difference to my case.
Needless to say, there were insurance companies involved (mine and theirs) which is another lawsuit altogether. Allstate (my carrier) subrogated with St. Paul Fire and Marine (their carrier) failing to recover any portion of my uninsured losses and subrogating before my claim has been completed. Unbeknownst to me, I apparently waived my right to recover my uninsured losses with an Allstate subrogation form. Due to Allstate's misconduct and failure to meet the terms of my policy, I paid $190,000 out of my husband's life insurance (all of it) to rebuild. I sued Allstate for breach of contract and bad faith (lost all my personal assets, took 2 years to rebuild, my home remains unfinished to this day, Allstate's Ace Contractor walked away with half of the insurance proceeds, leaving me with $70,000 in subcontractor liens, etc.) Three months ago, via mediation, I received a large settlement from Allstate for my bad faith suit against them.
Now, the contractor (who burned down the house) wants my settlement with Allstate to be provided to the jury. They are claiming that I am attempting to double recover. The company that burned my house down is HUGE and clearly would rather have their insurance company fight me rather than settle. Their contracts range from $270,000,000 for a big job, to $5,000,000 for a baby job. One piece of their heavy machinery costs more than my claim against them and they have fleets of equipment. I have asked to be compensated for the inconvenience of losing my home (and dream my husband and I had built together) as well as my family heirlooms, keepsakes, and miscellaneous uninsured personal property. Their offer is $30,000 which my attorney thinks I should accept because in reality, even if I win, I could lose. Any verdict will be appealed as I'm really fighting their insurance company and could go on for years. My attorney feels strongly, that given the harm I suffer as result of these tragedies, I should end it and try to heal. He feels that the death of my husband, the ensuing fire four months later and all the litigation has literally shortened my life. He's correct.
The details of my case are vast and complex. My greatest fear is that a jury would not have the ability to cull through the volumes of facts, not to mention the defense attorneys bull**** and render a reasonable verdict. I don't want a big fat jury verdict because the bigger it is, the more sure they will appeal. I just NEED something fair--in order to--get on with my life. The world has become a frightening and ugly place to me. Perhaps it is best to accept the offer of judgment?
Any ideas?